CDL Investments posts 44% gain in first-half profit

July
31 (BusinessDesk) - CDL Investments, the residential
property developer controlled by Millennium & Copthorne
Hotels New Zealand, posted a 44 percent gain in first-half
profit after doubling its sales of sections at developments
in Auckland, Hamilton and Rolleston.

Profit rose to $8.2
million in the six months ended June 30, from $5.7 million a
year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a
statement. Sales rose to $24.9 million from $15.3
million.

CDL sold 133 sections in the first half from its
Harrowglen development in Auckland, Magellan in Hamilton and
Stonebrook at Rolleston, south of Christchurch. It sold 68
sections in the same period last year. The company expects
the pace of sales to slow in the second half in the face of
rising mortgage rates and increased availability of
property. As a result, full-year profit was expected to be
in line with its 2013 earnings of $13.4 million, it
said.

"We do expect sales to be slightly softer in the
second half of the year than the first," said managing
director Boo Keng Chiu. "Forecast increases in mortgage
interest rates and property availability generally will
impact the property markets."

The shares, which are 67
percent owned by Millennium & Copthorne, rose about 2
percent to 52 cents. The stock has declined about 9 percent
in the past 12 months while the NZX 50 Index gained 14
percent. Millennium & Copthorne rose 5.8 percent to
$1.27.

CDL said it had acquired a further 4.1 hectares of
land in Auckland, while completing additional stages of
subdivisions in Hamilton and Rolleston and progressing with
earthworks at its Prestons Road site in
Christchurch.

The Wellington-based BusinessDesk team led by former Bloomberg Asian top editor Jonathan Underhill and Qantas Award-winning journalist and commentator Pattrick Smellie provides a daily news feed for a serious business audience.

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